The Room
by Kyra Rivers
Summary: To Hisoka, Tsuzuki was a steady presence, an anchor, that he could latch onto when he was sad or lonely or scared. He would never admit this, certainly not to the man in question, but it was true, and Hisoka knew it. (TsuzukixHisoka)


_**Title**: The Room_

_**Summary**: To Hisoka, Tsuzuki was a steady presence, an anchor, that he could latch onto when he was sad or lonely or scared. He would never admit this, certainly not to the man in question, but it was true, and Hisoka knew it. (TsuzukixHisoka)_

_**Notes**: I like this story, especially the ending, though it was written on a whim and is rather fluffy and without a plot. Tsuzuki's characterization, I think, might be a bit off, but I think that Tsuzuki isn't above a little good-natured teasing. (Besides, it's hard to get a handle on Tsuzuki anyway, considering how many sides there are to his personality. Maaa, seriously.)_

_**Disclaimer**: I own a Sesshomaru plushie and a Seta Soujirou action figure and an Inuyasha keychain. They're hanging from a doorknob in my room. But I don't think I own Yami no Matusei, as unbelievably hot that would be. (there would be much of Teh Gay Pr0n if I did, however. Oh, yes. Yes, there would.)_

* * *

**The Room**

It was not, Hisoka decided, such a bad thing that they were sharing a room.

He could not honestly think of anyone else he would be more comfortable with. It was an embarrassing thing to admit, even to himself, but it was the truth and Hisoka couldn't hide from it. Tsuzuki was a person that just _grew_ on you, until three years had passed and suddenly, it was not awkward to crawl into a single queen-sized hotel bed with him.

Maybe it was because he had done it so often, it became a familiar habit. Over the past three years, they had more cases than Hisoka really wished to count, and most of them included a cheap hotel room with a single bed. To have protested every one of those instances would have left Hisoka hoarse, so he merely accepted the situation as necessary and moved on.

Until there came a time that Tsuzuki was invited to a party while posing as a businessman during a case, and Hisoka was sent back to the hotel room to wait, and he realized that it was really hard to sleep when Tsuzuki was not there.

This didn't happen in Meifu. In Meifu, he was secure in his own bed, in his house, where everything was familiar and comforting. If he ever needed Tsuzuki -- which, admittedly, had happened a few times over the years --, he could easily teleport over to his partner's house. Tsuzuki had given him permission to do so without calling first, and honestly didn't seem to mind when Hisoka did.

There was one time, even, when Hisoka hadn't even bothered to wake Tsuzuki up and, instead, had crawled into bed beside his partner and fallen promptly to sleep. Tsuzuki hadn't mentioned it in the morning, though Hisoka woke up confused and flustered and unsure how he had gotten there.

It was not surprising to Hisoka that it would be hard to sleep. Here, it was not Meifu. He was in a hotel room which was cheap but sanitary, though Hisoka could feel the remnants of the people who had come before them, clinging on the walls and the beds and the door. It was faint, but enough to make the room all the more unfamiliar.

And Tsuzuki wasn't here to pester him into forgetting, to chatter about nothing and make Hisoka push the faint brushes of emotion to the back of his mind. To Hisoka, Tsuzuki was a steady presence, an anchor, that he could latch onto when he was sad or lonely or scared. He would never admit this, certainly not to the man in question, but it was true, and Hisoka knew it.

It was later that evening that Tsuzuki came back, tired and slightly drunk, and he immediately fell down on the bed beside Hisoka without ever bothering to take his clothes off. Hisoka, having given up on trying to sleep, had been reading, and stopped when he felt Tsuzuki's presence just outside the door. He didn't look up from the book until Tsuzuki fell on the bed, and then only to say, "Are you _that_ drunk?"

"M'not drunk," muttered Tsuzuki, whose face was half-pressed into a pillow.

"Idiot."

"I'm not!" Tsuzuki protested, sitting up on his elbows to give Hisoka a look of mock resentment. "I'm just tired, everyone kept wanting to dance and talk and I kept forgetting my backstory." At Hisoka's raised eyebrow, Tsuzuki added, "Okay, fine, I _did_ have some sake, but just enough to get a little tipsy. Enough to knock _you_ out, though." Tsuzuki grinned.

"Shut up," Hisoka snapped, more by reflex than anything, as he felt himself blushing slightly. He marked his place in his book and asked, "Did you get some information?"

"Yeah," Tsuzuki replied.

"Can we go over it tomorrow?" Hisoka asked, knowing that Tsuzuki would prefer that anyway. Besides, it was past midnight and Hisoka was tired.

Tsuzuki grinned brightly and said, "Really? I thought you waited up so we could crack down on this big, bad case right away..."

"I'm tired." Let Tsuzuki think what he would, Hisoka wasn't about to divulge the real reason.

"Were you waiting up for _me_, Hisoooooka?"

Hisoka didn't say anything and opted to simply glare at his partner, whose tone had taken on a teasing note. However, his face clearly had other intentions for his resolution, and Hisoka felt himself blush again. Tsuzuki was much too close to the mark on that one.

"No," muttered Hisoka, looking away from Tsuzuki and staring at himself in the mirror across from the bed. His reflection stared back at him, looking petulant and embarrassed, and he could see Tsuzuki's reflection suddenly move and grab him and--!

Suddenly Hisoka was hugged.

"Aww, you're so nice, Hisoka! Sankyuu!"

"L-Let me go! Idiot!" protested Hisoka, pushing against the solid mass that was Tsuzuki. But the familiar warmth was nice, and the feeling of Tsuzuki was strong and steady and comforting, and Hisoka didn't really mind all that much.

Hisoka, after the initial protest, gave up fighting and Tsuzuki held on for a few seconds more than necessary. Then he let go and laughed and messed up Hisoka's hair, bounding away before the younger boy could hit him for it.

"I'll get ready for bed," Tsuzuki said after he was far enough away to avoid physical harm. He smiled and added, "And it was _sweet_ that you waited up for me, Hisoka-chan!"

He dove into the bathroom and slammed the door as Hisoka threw a bedside phone book at his head.

And Hisoka would never admit it, but the room was different now, as if Tsuzuki's rush of emotions has washed away the faint touches of other people, leaving the room warm and familiar and normal. Hisoka relaxed into his pillow, lying down and waiting for his partner, and he knew that he needed Tsuzuki.

When Tsuzuki came back and crawled into bed, Hisoka fell almost instantly to sleep, put at ease by the familiar presence beside him. And if Hisoka curled up next to Tsuzuki in his sleep, Tsuzuki would never tell, but simply smile at his partner and brush a strand of wheat-blonde hair away from his face.

And when Hisoka woke up, the room was theirs and not awkward at all.


End file.
